R.I.P. Tim Calvert: 1965 – 2018

More tragic news came yesterday as former Forbidden and Nevermore guitarist Tim Calvert lost his battle to ALS at the age of 52. Calvert replaced Glen Alvelais in Forbidden before the band’s second album, 1990’s Twisted Into Form, and his involvement helped push the Bay Area thrashers in a more polished and progressive direction. Filled with appropriately twisting tech-thrash riffing, shifting tempos, and dark atmosphere, Twisted still stands strong today, the second of Forbidden’s perpetually under-appreciated thrash classics.

After two regrettably less-focused Forbidden follow-ups in Green and Distortion, Calvert departed Forbidden to join another outfit that would become known for technical precision and dramatic moodiness, Warrel Dane’s recently formed Nevermore, where he contributed to the monstrous Dreaming Neon Black. Paired with guitar virtuoso Jeff Loomis, Calvert left his musical mark on one of the greatest albums from a band that never made bad records. Still, Dreaming would sadly prove to be Calvert’s only release with Nevermore, and he left that band at the turn of the millennium to find a second career as an airline captain.

The goal of most any creative musician is to make music that lasts a lifetime, and not many get the chance to play on classic recordings by two different bands, a decade apart. Tim Calvert wasn’t metal’s best-known name by a pretty wide margin, but his musical legacy lives on in the records he made, and two of those are must-hears. Thank you, Tim.